Students hold mock trial // SLIDESHOW

Local high school juniors sit in the jury box and listen during a Junior Leadership Bay mock trial at the Bay County Courthouse on Tuesday.

Heather Leiphart | The News Herald

By JESSICA McCARTHY / The News Herald

Published: Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 09:01 PM.

PANAMA CITY — Potential vehicular manslaughter, wrongful death and a roomful of teenagers means Junior Bay Leadership legal day and mock trial is well under way.

The mock trial is part of Junior Leadership Bay’s program to provide high school juniors with an introduction to job opportunities in Bay County, according to Keith Bryant with the Bay County Chamber of Commerce. For legal day, the students spent the morning with the Panama City Police Department, the state Department of Juvenile Justice, Judge Allen Register, Judge Shane Vann and State Attorney Glenn Hess.

“They end the day with this mock trial, and it puts everything they learned up to this point today into action,” Keith Bryant said. “A lot of the kids that came into the courthouse today said they had never been inside this building before.”

Jake Bryant volunteered to play the part of Michael Young, a police officer, in the case.

“I wanted to do this so I could get some experience in the courtroom, trials and cases,” said Jake Bryant, son of Keith Bryant. “He’s a police officer in this case. He’s measuring things with the vehicle and helps the jury determine who’s guilty and not guilty; a car hit a pedestrian.”

Fellow participant Douglas Dick was asked to play Charles Shrackle, the driver being sued.

“I want to experience by doing,” Dick said. “I’m pretty interested in law. I have family members who are lawyers and it’s definitely a career possibility for me down the road.”

PANAMA CITY — Potential vehicular manslaughter, wrongful death and a roomful of teenagers means Junior Bay Leadership legal day and mock trial is well under way.

The mock trial is part of Junior Leadership Bay’s program to provide high school juniors with an introduction to job opportunities in Bay County, according to Keith Bryant with the Bay County Chamber of Commerce. For legal day, the students spent the morning with the Panama City Police Department, the state Department of Juvenile Justice, Judge Allen Register, Judge Shane Vann and State Attorney Glenn Hess.

“They end the day with this mock trial, and it puts everything they learned up to this point today into action,” Keith Bryant said. “A lot of the kids that came into the courthouse today said they had never been inside this building before.”

Jake Bryant volunteered to play the part of Michael Young, a police officer, in the case.

“I wanted to do this so I could get some experience in the courtroom, trials and cases,” said Jake Bryant, son of Keith Bryant. “He’s a police officer in this case. He’s measuring things with the vehicle and helps the jury determine who’s guilty and not guilty; a car hit a pedestrian.”

Fellow participant Douglas Dick was asked to play Charles Shrackle, the driver being sued.

“I want to experience by doing,” Dick said. “I’m pretty interested in law. I have family members who are lawyers and it’s definitely a career possibility for me down the road.”

The case used in the mock trial is an imaginary one from past years of Florida State University’s law school that have been used to teach the trial process. Local attorney Waylon Thompson said the case is balanced with both sides having points of weakness and strength and covers many legal issues to give the students a look into several aspects instead of focusing on one legal matter.

“Rather than just having a tour of the courthouse, we put on the mock trial,” Thompson said. “We’ll give the kids what a real trial looks like; they will be voting age soon, so they can see what it’s like to sit on a jury and hear a case.”

The mock trial even included a real judge, this year Judge Joe Grammer, real bailiffs and lawyers involved to make the experience as real as possible.

Thompson said a look into the court system is not the only thing students learn during the mock trial; it can change their view of jury duty.

“That’s part of the process, too, to let upcoming citizens know it (jury duty) is not such a scary, bad thing,” Thompson. “It’s OK. It’s kind of fun.”

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